I like the way that both collections put a single image on a plain white background - I find they're particularly good for scanning to transfer on to a T-shirt, especially the black, whit & red Dredd ones!

I like the way that both collections put a single image on a plain white background - I find they're particularly good for scanning to transfer on to a T-shirt, especially the black, whit & red Dredd ones!

Just realised I'm talking out my arse there, it's only the Dredd one that always does it, that Durham Red one is a rarity for the twoth collection.

sorry, my bad -I'll let you all go back to the regular subscription woes now...

Not weird. When they did Prog 2000, literally no one in the business had had any confidence the comic would make it to the year 2000 at all. The fact that it did is down to John Tomlinson, David Bishop and Andy Diggle. For all the things people can criticise about their various tenures as Tharg, that one fact is incontrovertible and the Squaxx owe them a debt of gratitude.

The tradition of Prog [YEAR] probably continued a bit longer than it should, but now we still get a bumper December prog, just with the normal numbering.

Jim, I think you mean make it to the Prog that would be numbered 2000 according to the sequential scheme. The original year end special Prog 2000 came out in December 1999.

Jim, I think you mean make it to the Prog that would be numbered 2000 according to the sequential scheme. The original year end special Prog 2000 came out in December 1999.

No. I meant exactly what I said — there was a very strong feeling amongst those in the industry during the second half of the 90s that the whole “what will 2000AD be called in the year 2000” debate was wildly optimistic and that the title would either be cancelled or turned into some kind of zombie version of itself, reprinting old material.

Aye, he turns up at the end of the volume as an absolute hero. The artwork gets darker, muddier and harder to decipher as the book goes on and then Langley appears and we can actually see what's happening! And what's more, he actually draws Nest to look like Nest, and not that blonde impostor we've been dumped with since The Horned God.

Robo-hunter vol 3: I think someone upthread said this was the best of Robo-hunter and they weren't wrong. The 3 stories in this volume are really rather good - after vol2 I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one at all so this came as a pleasent surprise. Sam was on top form and Hoagy and Stoogie seemed less annnoying than normal, the episode with Sam stuck in the chair was a truly superb piece of writing. Very glad we won't be seeing the Millar era material, having read some of his contributions to the Mega Collection from around this era I can imagine the train wreck and have no desire to actually read it. Much better to let this one end on a high point here.

Slaine vol 4: ignoring the irritation that this is volume 5 and all the remaining Slaine vols are now going to be misnamed (top work Hachette, you get a really slow clap for that one) this was also surprisingly enjoyable. The art suffered from some 90s sludgyness in places, which was a shame, Langley was a definite breath of fresh air in that last story. Pat does get a bit heavy handed with the anti-authority message at points (the worst offender being that 1 off, was it The Return Of The High King? which is basically just Pat on a soap box for a couple of pages). Where you could see what was going on the art was epic and really made these stories work. Actually looking forward to seeing where the goddess is sending Slaine next, which was a surprise as I'd set expectations for this book quite low based on discussions here. I'm a sucker for that style of fantasy art though. Give me plenty of gore, some weird monstrosities and some scantily clad ladies and I'm happy (it might not be PC but tbh I don't really care, it looks great)

Well having received 39 & 40 last week & with issue 41 not out yet (although due out tomorrow) I guess that's most people basically brought unexpectedly up to date, even if it's only for a day or two?

I'd fallen behind like a lot of people, with the payment for 35-36 being taken on 18 Jan and not arriving until 01 February. I took a chance and repeated an old trick, back-ordering 37-38 on 07 February and they arrived on the 15th. Payment for 39-40 was then taken on 01 March and they arrived on the 11th. So I've caught up by a couple of weeks, but judging by the discussion here I wonder whether that would have happened anyway... and I'm still likely to be a month behind the shops by the time I get 41-42.

Very glad we won't be seeing the Millar era material, having read some of his contributions to the Mega Collection from around this era I can imagine the train wreck and have no desire to actually read it.

It's dreadful tosh, which feels like a 15-year-old writer trying to be edgy. The art is at least quite nice, but the script driving it is cliched and offensive on all kinds of levels (regularly dipping into misogyny and homophobia, as Millar and sometimes Morrison seemed to enjoy doing back then, not understanding that satire doesn't mean being the thing you're trying to satirise). It not being included is a very good thing. That said, I'd have been happy to see the Hogan/Hughes stuff in this collection. That was much better on the whole.

Actually looking forward to seeing where the goddess is sending Slaine next, which was a surprise as I'd set expectations for this book quite low based on discussions here.

Yeah, the Demon Killer arc was superb. Really interesting to contrast it with the same events and characters touched on in Aquila (previous volume), where I didn't feel like I really got to know Boudicca at all, or understand her motivations. Pat gave us a really complete exploration of her campaign and I felt really invested - and Elfric was campy fun, great to see him get another outing. The Lord of Misrule arc feels a bit less essential (and quite a bit preachier!) but still fairly enjoyable.

It's always a surprise when the payment comes out. They took none in Jan or Dec and then two the following month. There's no set date when it'll be taken and some subscribers are already getting their books before they've even taken the money off me.